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pineconek 's review for:

The Bachman Books by Stephen King, Richard Bachman
3.0

Average rating is a solid three stars - I enjoyed it and would recommend it if you like Stephen King.
Two of these books feature games of death, which is my favourite horror sub-genre. These alone were worth making it through the subpar stories. In general, this is a "popcorn" read. Take that as you will.

Notes on each story:

Rage: a solid three stars as well. I understand why this book is out of print - empathizing with a school shooter isn't exactly a welcome perspective nowadays. I did enjoy this story quite a lot though and found it a tad campy (think Heathers).

The Long Walk: four stars for this excellent game of death. The main character was memorable (by SK standards) and the novel touched on the common but excellent theme of games of death: even the winner doesn't really win. I read this a few months ago and took a hiatus on the book after that because it was such an enjoyable story and I knew the third wasn't regarded as very strong.

Roadwork: two stars, since I didn't like it and found it a chore to read. I enjoy King's descent into madness stories but this one was very bloated. I made it through because I was looking forward to...

The Running man: five stars for this game of death. What excellent world building, suspense, and genuine horror. What stellar social commentary that stood the test of time. The story is set in the 2020s but written in the 80s. This was a great page turner and is my top recommendation out of these stories.